Geopolitics, Space, Place and Power Study Notes

GEOG1500: GLOBAL GEOPOLITICS, MIGRATION AND UNEVEN DEVELOPMENT Lecture 2 – Geopolitics, Space, Place and Power

Instructor: Matthew Abbey

THINKING GEOPOLITICALLY

  • Understanding global politics or international relations from a geographical perspective provides a novel perspective.
  • Key Question: What does thinking geographically mean?

ANALYTIC DISCIPLINES

  • Disciplines focused on analyzing specific components of world systems:
    • Geology: Study of the earth's physical structure and substance.
    • Economics: Examination of production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
    • Politics: Dynamics of power, governance and political institutions.
    • Biology: Study of living organisms and life processes.
    • Medicine: Science of diagnosing, treating, and preventing illness.
    • Sociology: Study of social behavior, relationships, and institutions.

SYNTHETIC DISCIPLINES

  • Disciplines that integrate various fields of study:
    • Economics
    • Politics
    • Geology
    • Sociology
    • Biology
    • Medicine

HISTORY

  • Importance of historical context in understanding geopolitical issues:
    • Geology
    • Economics
    • History: Study of past events and their implications on the present and future.
    • Politics
    • Biology
    • Medicine
    • Sociology

GEOGRAPHY

  • Involves the study of places and the relationships between people and their environments:
    • Economics
    • Geography: The spatial arrangement of the earth's features, including populations, landscapes, and critical infrastructures.
    • Geology
    • Politics
    • Biology
    • Medicine
    • Sociology

THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY

  • Emphasizes the relevance of space and place in understanding global interactions:
    • Human and physical phenomena extend across space.
    • There is a variation between places across space.
    • Spatial diversity shapes relations between places.
    • Human activity is inherently spatial.
    • Recognizing spatial interconnections is crucial for comprehensive understanding.

MAPS AS OBJECTIVE TOOLS

  • Maps are tools for geographical understanding but can never be entirely objective
    • Example Mapping Locations:
    • Shetland Islands, British Isles, Baltic Sea, Caspian Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, and various countries and regions from Europe, Africa, and Asia.

MAPPING THE STATES OF THE WORLD

  • Location: Both absolute (coordinates) and relative (relationship to other states).
  • Space/Territory: Understanding the geographic control and integration of territory.
  • Projection of Power: How states extend their influence across geographic space.
  • Spatial Scale: Varies from local to global concerning power dynamics.

GEOGRAPHY AS ‘USEFUL’ KNOWLEDGE

  • Economically Useful:
    • Facilitates resource exploitation.
    • Promotes agricultural and industrial development.
    • Enhances trade capacity.
  • Politically Useful:
    • Supports states in increasing their power domestically and globally.
    • Protects against hostile external forces.
    • Secures advantages over rival states/non-state actors.

GEOPOLITICS AS ‘AN AID TO STATECRAFT’

  • Involves knowledge generated by academic communities to advance state interests.
  • Historically controversial, with ongoing implications for present and future interactions.

REALISM

  • Geopolitics traditionally align with a ‘realist’ worldview:
    • Global political systems primarily consist of competing states.
    • Relationships among states are inherently competitive.
    • States operate rationally in pursuit of their own self-interest; however, this premise can be questioned.

POLITICAL CONTROVERSY

  • Geopolitics historically linked with:
    • Justification of colonialism, imperialism, and neocolonialism which have since become discredited.

GEOPOLITIK IN NAZI GERMANY

  • Friedrich Ratzel’s concept of the organic idea of the state:
    • Proposed that a dynamic state requires “space” to thrive.
  • Post-WWII: Western perception of geopolitics became negative, but it is still addressed in military academies.

GEOPOLITICS “REBORN”

  • New discussions on the value of geographical perspectives in international relations.
  • A revival of classical geopolitics has emerged.

CRITICAL GEOPOLITICS

  • Focuses on not advancing state interests but exposing abuses of geographical concepts in political power contexts.
  • Challenges simplistic views on political systems and geographical-political relationships.
  • Critiques ‘realism’ and current political inequalities.

BROADER UNDERSTANDING OF CRITICAL GEOPOLITICS

  • Moves beyond singular truths regarding geography's role in politics.
  • Investigates origins and the dissemination of certain geographical viewpoints.
  • Identifies dangerous ideas and how to challenge them.
  • Seeks to include voices beyond just political and academic elites.

POPULAR GEOPOLITICS

  • Examines how geopolitical ideas permeate popular culture:
    • Analysis of communication modes like fiction, film, cartoons, etc., in legitiamizing specific policies.

JAMES BOND MEETS GEOPOLITICS

  • Examples of how film engages with geopolitical themes:
    • From Russia with Love (1957): Bond confronts assassination attempts by Soviet agency SMERSH.
    • Die Another Day (2002): Bond infiltrates North Korean military environments tied to illegal weapon exchanges.

CONCLUSION: GEOPOLITICS TODAY

  • Current challenges include the influence of social media and fake news.
  • The pervasive information about geopolitics accentuates the necessity of grounding oneself in solid geopolitical foundations.